Abracadabra

Getting to the bottom of the Abracadabra rose.
A sport of Hocus Pocus, whose parentage in turn is Black Magic.

“Abracdabra was bred as a florist rose by Kordes in Germany the large rose nursery. But because it was a hardy rose, it was then sold as a garden one. This rose will go different shades depending on the weather. However the flowers will not be as large but darker in part-shade. It looks best in areas where the summers get very hot as the colours will go darker. It doesn’t have a fragrance only just a little in high heat. It is a tall rose and will grow to about 5 feet tall under normal conditions. In part shade the stripes become unstable and they tend to blend all together and become just one shade of red. It does have a long vase life when picked. Because Abracadabra is a sport of another striped rose which has a lot of yellow in it, sometimes one of the flowers on the rose bush will be a plain yellow apparently this happens quite often. This is a hardy rose and will do well even in zone 5 which has a snow covered winter. Growing it really doesn’t require any extra or different means. It is just the stripes that will change due to the weather. ” from HelpMeFind

“A Sport of Frisco. Novelty colouring of red, striped yellow, with each bloom magically displaying its own individual combination. The red is that of Black Beauty. Suitable for cut flower production and also novelty garden rose. Somewhat more stable and brighter in colour than Hocus Pocus.” Treloar Roses

One of my Abracadabras, this one grown on a north-facing slope in full sun

This much smaller bloom, probably half the size of the one above, is from a plant grown amongst peach trees (so semi-shade through summer). So far, it has thrown two near-black blooms – one in early summer and this one in Autumn. As you can see, some yellow is coming though on the reverse.

As it is a hybrid it won’t grow true to seed, so I’m thinking of propagating from cuttings of those branches that throw the darker blooms just to see if it’s the site or the DNA that’s responsible. Yeah..I’ve been sucked in to trying to breed the famed and elusive Black Rose, despite the knowledge that professional plant breeders and geneticists the world over have not yet succeeded in this quest and the incredible unlikelihood it’s going to just pop up in someone’s back yard. I’m sure I’m not the first nor the last that Abracadabra has done this to.

Some parentage info:
FRISCO ROSE:
“Sweetheart roses are beautiful small roses which are often used as accents to wedding flowers – especially in boutonnieres and corsages.
Description: Frisco sweetheart roses stand between 18 and 20 inches tall. These beautiful little roses are best described as being a true bright yellow sweetheart rose… These roses have a small rose head which is an identifying characteristic of sweetheart roses.” Growers Box (under Overview)

BLACK BEAUTY
“A sport of ‘Frisco’, one of the most sold cut roses in the world. Medium sized flowers of velvet red with an inclination toward black, with a yellowish reverse. It has a dazzling, distinctive colour which catches the eye. A very productive cut flower variety with good vase life. 80cm tall.”Treloar Roses

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Tim Entwisle (Gardening Australia: A Change of Seasons) suggests we adopt at least 5 seasons, such is the variability of the Australian climate from region to region. he speaks from Sydney to Jane Edmanson:

“There’s an early spring, which I call Sprinter – August and September, there’s a Sprummer which comes after that for 2 months – October and November. There’s a long summer which goes right from December through to March, a short autumn, a short winter – both just two months long and then you’re back at Sprinter.”

He explains what he means by Sprinter. “Spring in Australia, particularly in southern Australia, comes a bit earlier – it comes in about August. That’s really when we start to see things flowering. It’s the time of year we see change.”

“Sprummer is a season between Sprinter – this early spring – and summer, but it’s a changeable season. One of the interesting things with Sprummer is that it’s quite windy in lots of parts of Australia, you get hot weather and cold weather. It’s a really transition time between Sprinter and Summer.”